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While it may be obvious that I am a MAJE procrastinator I like to think of myself as more of a creative sort with ideas to spare and time to, well, not spare…so “real” tasks are sometimes put off until my right brain urges are sated.

I’ve been eyeing the white expanse of wall in my sons’ vintage camping themed room…a vast blank canvas awaiting a personal touch. I considered vintage pennants from Etsy (already have a pennant garland) or something wooden and nautical (more on this later) or an oversized map (already have this in the playroom) and then it came to me…I wanted something kitsch and whimsical and playful and remembered how fun it was to draw with chalk markers on the black Kraft paper I use in my Etsy shop, {verdigreen} to wrap customer orders. Here’s an example of a {verdigreen} holiday order, wrapped & bowed with upholstery ticking:

For this project, I began by cutting a massive square of black Kraft paper — didn’t really measure it — and then using my no-fail Uchida Broad Tip White Chalk Marker to create a design as I went. I wouldn’t recommend doing this, but since I am not a pre-planner when it comes to my doodles I hoped for the best since it was only paper and I could start over if I needed to. This is what I ended up with:

I tacked it on the wall and framed it by nailing four vintage yard sticks around it, then carefully cutting around each yardstick to remove the excess paper. It is the lazy-man’s art project…perfect for a tired mom of toddlers who wants a major change with little effort. 😉 **note – funky photo angles are a result of their bunkbed being in the middle of the room…hopefully you get the picture. literally.**

The wall looked much better but was still lacking the over-theming-Azie-touch so I found a super inexpensive wooden child’s oar, taped it with painter’s tape and “wrote” the word CAMP on the paddle with mailbox decals, then spray-painted it with four different Krylon colors. Once dry, I removed the tape and stickers and sanded it to create a less-than-perfect vintage-y look:

After I added it to the wall, I sat back & admired my quick handiwork then Googled to see if anyone else had thought of it and found this. Wh-wh-what? Oar decor at Pottery Barn Kids for $29?? Well…I like my color scheme better but that is really affordable for PBK! The benefit to painting your own is personalization – you can negative-space a name and choose your own color palette.

Now that their room is *ahem* almost complete I s’pose it’s time to face the bane of my existence…the fitted sheet fresh from the laundry. (scanning room for empty walls)